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Bishop Supports EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011

October 14, 2011

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) voted in favor of H.R. 2250, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulatory Relief Act of 2011. This bipartisan bill seeks to address serious concerns raised by hospitals, power plants, universities and manufacturing companies including some in Southwest Georgia, about recently published EPA rules that establish stringent standards for emissions from facilities that rely on boilers and incinerators as power sources. The legislation passed by a 275-142 vote.

Earlier this year, the EPA proposed four rules establishing new standards that would adversely affect manufacturing and industrial facilities in Southwest Georgia, including the region’s lumber companies and paper mills. These rules, the Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology rules, are often referred to as the “Boiler MACT” rules. Immediate compliance with these rules would impose billions of dollars in up-front costs for businesses and could put hundreds of jobs in Georgia at risk. H.R. 2250 directs the EPA to revise the Boiler MACT rules so that they are less burdensome on our domestic industries.

“In order to protect Georgia’s manufacturing sectors and other boiler users, it is important that government agencies not inundate companies with onerous regulations that drastically increase costs and threaten the ability of businesses to retain workers and create new jobs,” said Congressman Bishop. “The Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Relief Act requires the EPA to enact more balanced regulations that both protect our environment and safeguard the jobs of hardworking Georgians.”

The EPA Regulatory Relief Act:

• Provides the EPA with at least 15 months to re-propose and finalize an achievable Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) for commercial boilers and incinerators.

• Extends the compliance deadlines to allow regulated facilities at least five years to comply with any new EPA emission rules and install necessary equipment.

• Directs the EPA to impose the least burdensome regulatory alternatives under the Clean Air Act, consistent with the Act and President Obama’s Executive Order 13563.

• Directs the EPA to ensure that new rules are achievable by boiler, process heater and incinerator facilities located in the United States.